The latest NFL broadcast news and notes, Part 2

Google CEO Larry Page is said to be exploring buying the rights to the NFL's Sunday Ticket package. Tech Editor Chris Ciaccia explains.

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Continuing our update on the latest in NFL broadcast news…

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What’s the worst city to watch NFL football on TV? According to 506 Sports, it’s right here in the Bay Area. The site, which puts out broadcast maps showing who gets what contests each week, tracked this info for the entire season and ranked each TV market for quality games.

According to this list, Salt Lake City was the best place to be to watch quality football and we were the worst. This is probably due to the fact that we had every Raiders game on here, and you could hardly describe any contest featuring the 2013 Silver and Black with the word “quality”. We also missed five major matchups on CBS and Fox due to NFL blackout rules that prevent another game from airing opposite a home game unless the other local team is involved.

Make your plans to move to the SLC now.

Next: The end might be near for NFL Sunday Ticket on DirecTV. The league is asking for a significant bump in payment from the satellite carrier which gets the exclusive rights to offer fans the ability to watch any game they want on Sunday mornings and afternoons. Apparently this package is no longer as valuable to fans since the advent of the RedZone channel, which is carried by most cable and satellite outlets, and because of the expansion of Thursday Night Football, which has removed one contest each week that would've been on Sunday.

Making things more complicated is the fact that before the season started, it was reported that Google was interested in replacing DirecTV and had been in talks with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. This would be a boon for the Mountain View-based tech company which is in the process of rolling out a subscription TV service.

With deep-pocketed competition looming, speculation is that DirecTV will end up giving it one more go, but drop out after the new deal expires, thus opening it up to Google or others. The cost and length of the new deal are still being negotiated. The satellite carrier will pay $1 billion for the 2014 season, the last year of the current deal. The NFL reportedly wants $1.4 billion for 2015.

Finally, Saturday night's matchup between the Colts and the Patriots on CBS will be the final broadcast for analyst Dan Dierdorf who's stepping away from the mike after 26 years. The former offensive tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals (Yes kids, the Cards played in the STL before moving to the desert), was part of the MNF broadcast team for 12 years before moving to CBS. He's been partnered with Verne Lundquist, Dick Enberg and, most recently, Greg Gumbel.

“It has become a challenge for me to travel to a different NFL city every week, so it's time to step aside. This has been a wonderful ride as I really have lived the dream."

Let's hope Saturday night's contest is a barn burner so he can dream big one last time.

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Dave Winters is a Media Producer and sports enthusiast who's lived and worked in the Bay Area for 20 years. Dave has experience producing televised sports events and various other projects and has an understanding of the behind-the-scenes world of Sports Media. Contact him at dw.dwmmedia@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter at @dwmmedia. Like him on Facebook.